From the archives: Des Moines ‘Boob & Lube’ location goes belly-up

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Darrell Lafon watches in October 1986 as some members of the National Organization for Women picket his business at Keosauqua Way and Crocker Street. Lafon was hiring topless women to work topless while washing customers' windows and vacuuming their vehicles at his business, Darrell’s Grease & Go.(Photo11: Register file photo)Buy Photo

Editor’s note: This story by former Register columnist Chuck Offenburger originally ran on Feb. 14, 1987. Darrell’s Grease & Go operated in Des Moines from December 1985 to February 1987.

As I travel through small towns all over the state, the question I often hear is, “How is it the economy in Des Moines stays strong when we’ve got so much trouble out here?”

Things are more vibrant in the capital city, but the fact is some businesses do fold here, too.

One that did recently: Boob & Lube.

The demise of a local merchant is cause for considerable analysis in a small town, and I think it should be that way in the city, too; so today we’ll discuss Boob & Lube, economically and in a broader sense.

Actually, the formal name of the place was Darrell’s Grease & Go, but after owner Darrell Lafon started hiring topless women to do the vacuuming and window-washing on cars while he changed the oil and handled the grease gun, everybody started calling it Boob & Lube. He even put big, hand-painted signs outside saying that’s what it was.

Lost $11,000

Well, that’s what it was until Feb. 3 when he closed the doors at his location on Keosauqua Way, northwest of downtown Des Moines. He said he couldn’t afford to continue a business in which he’d lost $11,000 in 13 months, the last four of which he tried the gimmick with women attendants.

Some of the more enlightened citizens of Des Moines are probably rejoicing over his failure, saying good riddance.

They thought the real boob in this venture was the 51-year-old Lafon and they turned out several times to picket with signs suggesting he was more voyeur than entrepreneur. He said he’s certainly not the former and, given his flop, he probably can’t be called the latter.

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Darrell Lafon, owner of Darrell's Grease & Go, decided in 1986 that topless women would attract customers to his struggling Des Moines business. He operated the business for 13 months between 1985 and 1987, the last four of which were with the topless women washing customers' windows and vacuuming their vehicles.(Photo11: Register file photo)

The pickets didn’t bother the business, he said. “In fact, they did me a favor. When they came, so did the media, and I got nationwide coverage. I got calls from all over, even one from Australia.”

So, why did it bomb?

“Oh, there are a lot of reasons, but I suppose the main one was one that a lot of small businesses have trouble with – getting good help,” he said. “WhenI first advertised for women to go topless, I couldn’t get anybody to apply, but then I started getting some.

“A lot were dancers, too, who were working for an agency. They’d just start with me, and then they’d get called away to another job. And I had one gal that was real good with people, but she started calling in sick so much.

“It got to the point that cars would drive up, but I’d have to go out and say, ‘Sorry, guys, I don’t have any girls here today,’ and they’d leave.”

Lafon’s “Boob & Lube special,” for which he even sold gift certificates, went for about $25. The women received $5 for each car, plus tips, which sometimes were considerable, he said.

Ah, conventioneers

Another factor that hurt, he said, was the construction of a bridge over Keosauqua Way just a couple of blocks north of his location.

“That cut the traffic that normally would come by,” he said. “Otherwise, it wasn’t really a bad place to be. Some people were afraid of the neighborhood, but I was there 13 months and never had a bit of trouble.

“Besides, it was close to downtown offices and to the Convention Center. Groups that would be here meeting were pretty good to me. I did pretty well with the Pork Producers.”

He maintains it was “a clean business – no hanky-panky at all and no back room. The guys would just watch the show while their windows were being washed, that’s all. But I do think if I was doing it again, I’d maybe put in some nice music and some black lights or something to give the place more of an atmosphere.”

He said he will return to his former job, painting, with “no bitterness, none at all. And I’ve got a lot of memories of crazy stuff that happened.

“I think my favorite was the guy who came in that had just been fired from his job and had been told by his wife she was divorcing him, all in one day.

“Somehow, when he was in here, he locked himself out of his van, so he had to call his wife, who was already plenty mad at him, and ask her to bring the extra set of keys to him down at Boob & Lube. Can you imagine that?”

Barely, but then I could never quite imagine a Boob & Lube in the first place.